Sadia Bashir An entrepreneur and a tech professional

City: Islamabad
Business: Games Studio

How long have you been in this industry?
I have been working in the game industry for the last 5 years.

What was your vision?
My vision is, and of course always was, to bring a bigger piece of Silicon Valley in Pakistan. The “Gaming Industry” is the second largest industry and it can help us in our economy in many ways. All we need is to provide a platform, a centre of excellence where individuals can learn more and more about game development and get ready to compete against the world.

What do you think is your biggest achievement throughout your entrepreneurial journey so far?
At this moment, I feel like my real journey has not yet started, but I have geared myself up for the journey, that lies ahead… and this is my biggest achievement. You may think how it can be a biggest achievement? Well I belong to a family where education of girls was not very important; I have never seen any role model for me in my family who could have guided me. My parents were never able to support my education, so I had to stand up for myself. I stitched clothes and gave tuitions to get my education done and never ever gave up, no matter how hard the situation was. And it was in spite of all the criticism and bitter remarks from my all relatives when I was getting admission in co-education I became the very first girl in my entire family who is university graduate, and also a scholarship holder from HEC. After my BS in Computer Sciences, I started my job in the game industry and juggled my job along with my MS. Today I am an MS in Computer Science from COMSATS and also running my small venture to give services in brand designing, web designing and game art, I have also worked on many game titles in different companies, both international and local. Now I am planning to launch my own art Studio and academy, officially. All of my achievements helped me to change the perspective of my entire family towards education of girls, and giving them awareness about their rights and equality. I think changing the mind-set of my family is the biggest achievement yet, I created a pathway of success not just for myself but for the upcoming generations of my family too. If every woman amongst us could bring such changes, we can collectively be the change that this nation is in dire need of.

What are your immediate plans regarding this studio? And when do you plan to launch it

officially?
I am working on a lot of things right now, including market research and the business model. My first aim is to promote game development as an entertainment industry and also increase awareness about the worth of this industry. I have gathered a team of professionals and we will be conducting small workshops in universities, very soon but I am going to launch this venture officially around September 2015.

What challenges do you think women face if they plan to become an entrepreneur and how should they overcome them?
Honestly, becoming an entrepreneur is not a piece of cake. It’s easy to dream and make ideas but working on those ideas becomes harder every day, especially when you are a woman. You get very less people around you who will encourage you or support you, but you will get a lot of people who will always criticize you and de-motivate you, and it is not just Pakistan, this is how it is all over the planet. Our society, specially, feels threatened by the success of a woman I have faced a lot of taunts on my education that it has made me blatant… while it has just opened my mind to bigger ideas and made me aware about my rights. It’s all about your will, if you have a will, you will find a way or else you will always be able to create ways for your own self, but you will need a strong WILL. Just don’t give up on your dreams, just because you are a woman or it’s hard for you to pursue them or you fear that you might lose. Everyone wants to win and do bigger but for that get into the race first, once you will be in the race only then you can win and lose.
In our society career of a woman is not considered as important as their marriage. We put marriage in a woman’s head even before their independence and identity. This has become the biggest reason that women have become incompetent and less aware of their strengths, I think it’s time to change this trend we should let our girls grow and let them fly high. Being a woman gives you so many responsibilities and challenges but it also gives you strength and abilities. Focus on your abilities; groom yourself, and as an individual never give-up!